The Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W130 is a compact, 8.1 Megapixel camera.
It features a 4X optical zoom lens, optical image stabilization, 2.5" LCD
display, face and smile detection, a VGA movie mode, and more. The W130 is
one of five models in Sony's W-series of compact cameras, and if you want to
see what differentiates all of them, have a look at this chart:

Feature

DSC-W120

DSC-W130

DSC-W150

DSC-W170

DSC-W300

Street price
(at time of posting)

$195

$245

$249

$299

$349

Resolution

7.1 MP

8.1 MP

8.1 MP

10.1 MP

13.6 MP

Optical zoom

4X

4X

5X

5X

3X

Focal length (35 mm equiv.)

32 - 128 mm

32 - 128 mm

30 - 150 mm

28 - 140 mm

35 - 105 mm

Lens max. aperture

F2.8 - F5.8

F2.8 - F5.8

F3.3 - F5.2

F3.3 - F5.2

F2.8 - F5.5

LCD size

2.5"

2.5"

2.7"

2.7"

2.7"

LCD resolution

115,000 pixels

115,000 pixels

230,000 pixels

230,000 pixels

230,000 pixels

ISO range

100 - 3200

100 - 3200

80 - 3200

80 - 3200

80 - 3200

Intelligent Scene Recognition

No

No

Yes

Yes

Yes

D-Range Optimizer

No

No

Yes

Yes

Yes

Enhanced playback mode

No

No

Yes

Yes

Yes

Supports underwater case

No

No

Yes

Yes

No

Battery life
(CIPA standard)

350

370

400

390

300

Available colors

Black, silver, pink, blue

Black, silver, pink

Black, silver, gold, red

Black, silver, gold, red

Black

I hope that clears up any confusion you may have about the
various W-series models!

Like most point-and-shoot cameras these days, Sony built memory
right into the DSC-W130, in lieu of bundling a memory card. The W130 has 15MB
of memory, which won't hold very many 8 Megapixel photos. Thus, you'll want
to buy yourself a Memory Stick Duo card, and fast. I'd recommend picking up
a 1GB card to start with. MS Duo cards come with an adapter that allows them
to fit into regular Memory Stick slots (like on printers or card readers).

The DSC-W130 can use two different batteries: the included
NP-BG1, and the optional NP-FG1. The only difference between the two is that
the NP-FG1 has the InfoLithium feature, which allows the camera to tell you
exactly how many minutes of juice you have left. Both of these batteries have
3.4 Wh of energy, which is on the low end of the spectrum. Despite that, Sony
managed to get some great battery life numbers, as illustrated by this chart:

Camera

Battery life, LCD on
(CIPA standard)

Canon PowerShot SD850 IS *

230 shots

Casio Exilim EX-Z200 *

400 shots

Fuji FinePix Z100fd *

170 shots

GE E840s

200 shots

Kodak EasyShare M893 IS *

225 shots

Nikon Coolpix S520 *

180 shots

Olympus Stylus 840 *

190 shots

Panasonic Lumix DMC-FS5 *

310 shots

Pentax Optio M50

210 shots

Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W130 *

370 shots

* Has image stabilization

Battery life numbers are provided by the camera manufacturers

As you can probably tell, the W130's battery life is well
above average. Only Casio does it better.

I should mention a couple of "gotchas" regarding
the proprietary battery used by the DSC-W130 (and every other camera on that
list). For one, they're fairly expensive -- buying a spare NP-BG1 will set
you back at
least $25, with the FG1 costing at least $43. Secondly, if
the BG1 or FG1 runs out of juice, you can't use an off-the-shelf battery like
you could on a camera that uses AA batteries. This is one of the trade-offs
that comes with owning a compact camera.

When you're ready to charge the W130's battery, just pop it
into the included charger (which plugs directly into the wall -- my favorite).
And then be prepared to wait, as the charge times are excruciatingly slow,
with a typical charge taking 4.5 hours. If you want a faster charger, then
you'll have to pony up at
least $33 for the BC-TRG
charger, which takes only 1.5 hours to charge the battery.

As is the case with all compact cameras, the W130 has a built-in
lens cover, so there's no clunky lens cap to deal with.

The DSC-W130 has a decent amount of accessories for a compact
camera, and I've compiled them into this handy chart for you:

Both include a leather case; first one has the
NP-BG1 battery, the second one has the NP-FG1 InfoLithium battery

* Prices were accurate when review
was posted

Not a bad selection if I do say so myself! The one thing missing here is an AC adapter -- there isn't one available.

[Accessories selection updated 5/16/08]

My production-level DSC-W130 did not come in a retail box, so I did not get the software CD-ROM. For everyone else, Sony includes Picture Motion Browser 3.0 (Windows-only) and Music Transfer (Mac/Windows) with the camera. Picture Motion Browser is a basic image acquisition and editing tool, while Music Transfer lets you custom slideshow music onto the W130. You can read more about Picture Motion Browser 2.0 (the last one I tested) in my DSC-T200 review.

Sony breaks the DSC-W130's manual into a few parts. In the
box, you'll find a printed "Instruction Manual", which has enough information
to get you up and running. For more details, you'll have to open up the "Cyber-shot
Handbook" on the included CD-ROM (grrr). The quality of the manuals are just
okay -- there's a lot of fine print, and they're not what I'd call pleasure
reading.

Look
and Feel

The Cyber-shot DSC-W130 is a compact camera made mostly of
metal. It's not as thin as Sony's T-series cameras, closer in size to a deck
of cards. The camera is made mostly of metal, with the front having a "brushed"
appearance. The only weak spot is the flimsy-feeling plastic door over the
memory card and battery compartment.

The camera controls are well-placed, though some of the buttons
are on the small side. The camera can be operated with just one hand, though
it felt a lot more stable if I used both.

Images courtesy of Sony Electronics

Sony was one of the first to offer cameras in multiple colors,
so you shouldn't be surprised to see that the W130 is available in black, pink,
and silver.

Now, here's a look at how the DSC-W130 compares to other compact
cameras in terms of size and weight: